Art Therapy for Adults

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time”

Art making can help us to know and understand ourselves. Finding ways to access personal stories, events, situations or even workplace dynamics through the visual arts can help us to witness and process these without the need for words.  This can lead to powerful shifts in self-awareness, as well as new perspectives on specific situations. Exploring stories and events through art making can help people to reframe challenges, to develop new perspectives and to access sensitive topics in a safe moderated situation, whilst inviting opportunities to seek pathways to solutions.

Symbols and Images

As humans our brain sees in images, that’s how we create our internal world. When I ask you to think of “water”, you are unlikely to see a word, instead you will see an image of waves, a raindrop, or a waterfall etc. We can also use symbol and images to illustrate ambiguous concepts, such as pain. We can use words to describe a pain, yet there are many times when words are just not available or accurate or not enough. When we ask someone to draw or paint that pain, this can lead to the discovery of stories around the pain, the depths and the extent of that. We can locate that pain, zoom in on it, try and make friends with it, communicate with it to understand and eventually heal it. Recent trauma research indicates that this kind of pain is stored in non-verbal parts of our brain, so making art can be key in offering a pathway to identify, explore, and reduce the symptoms associated with unresolved pain.

Art Therapy Sessions

As we work together in an art therapy session, my goal is to try and understand your lived experience in as many dimensions as possible. The three-way relationship between the you the client, me the therapist and the art, provides the context for this to happen. Our sessions allow time and space for you to focus on the process of creating art and then with my guidance, we explore the meaning contained within the images. The focus is always on the meaning and story of the image rather than on the technical expertise. When you create with an art therapist and share this kind of investigation of the art together, you are taking what is called a "witness perspective". This allows you to observe challenges without being embroiled in the emotion of the experience. This allows a new understanding of feelings, patterns and beliefs that are impacting actions and choices.

What Does This Look Like ?

  • No art making experience is required

  • Each session allows you to explore different materials and processes alongside our conversation as we create space for regeneration, integration... learning, and unlearning.

  • While sessions usually follow a weekly rhythm, they may also be very organic and each day is different.

  • You may start a session knowing what you’d like to work with and other stories may also emerge for you.

  • This is a time for you to explore, pause, reflect, to be curious and to be guided to make your own discoveries and meanings that emerge from the both the art-making and our dialogue.

  • You will learn to integrate small practices to help you with self care and to build self-trust.

How does this work?

  1. We start with a free 30-minute discovery conversation via zoom or face to face. 

  2. I send you my intake and consent forms

  3. We set up a series of dates, I usually recommend an initial series of x 3 sessions followed by weekly to gain continuity, clarity, and progress

  4. We may then negotiate sessions every other week to maintain good functioning.

  5. From then on you may decide to come as needed or during a difficult time of year.

Adult sessions are 75 minutes and the charge is $1,600 per session.

FAQs

  • The number of sessions required depends on your unique needs and goals for therapy. In our first meeting we will discuss this further and agree on a plan.

    I would always recommend that people attend sessions weekly initially in order to build rapport, for the process to have meaning and relevance and to actually make some progress. The first sessions are always about building engagement and trust. Your therapy journey may look like this however it is not linear and these aspects weave in and out over time.

    We build engagement, rapport and trust

    Challenge areas and issues arise

    Assessment / Diagnostic of next steps

    Interventions take place over time

  • Most clients attend art therapy weekly, in order to make some solid gains in the first few weeks, this may then shift to every other week to maintain good functioning and reinforce gains. As the work becomes more about check-in for support and realignment, attending monthly is suggested. Thereafter a client may attend for “Check-ins” which means they come as needed or when they are in stressful situations, or perhaps during a difficult time of year. The recommended frequency is determined by your unique needs and goals.

  • The Artwork remains at the studio for the duration of our art therapy journey and returned in our closing session. Sometimes people like to keep a therapy Art Journal or bring in their own artwork to share in session.